Everyone is Invited to Join as the Additional Haim Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're speaking to Haim?" a text pops up. "I was hoping to ask if I can become their newest bandmate."
However, there remains one problem: The sender also wants to be the Haims' additional sibling. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. Several celebrated fans have also petitioned for the honor.
One thing is obvious a special quality is at play. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana launched their career playing gigs at local delicatessens with their family. Presently, they stand as multiple Grammy hopefuls.
Like all the most iconic bands, they're a inseparable unit. Their music videos often depict them walking in harmony down the streets of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such boundless joy you inevitably think, "I'd love to be part of that, too."
"How often on tour that audience members came up to us and said, 'Seeing you perform, I picked up a drum kit'," states Alana, the most junior of the Haim siblings. "It is the greatest compliment. That's an award in itself. Our mission is accomplished if we can inspire young girls to start a band."
"And thus everyone are welcome to be the honorary Haim sister."
Award Recognition
The group are speaking from home, where they're recovering after an extensive tour in support of their fourth album, I Quit.
They're presently celebrating the news it's been in the running for best rock album at the Grammys â with Haim the pioneering all-woman band ever in the running for the award.
"I follow the announcements every year, so it almost feels like a surreal movie when your name is read out," notes Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Did we just hear this right or am I hallucinating'?"
The significance of the honor is deeply felt by the band.
"We really set out to make a rock record this time, so it's a significant step," says Alana. "But we're just appreciative for the pioneers that paved the way."
Heartbreak and Candor
The project came out of a phase of emotional upheaval. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that odd in-between place where you're glad to be free, but not yet ready to let go.
The themes track endings and farewells. The sisters want love, but not the relationships they've got. You can hear them figuring out in real life who they aspire to be.
"That's a perfect summary, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is like a mantra. You have to make an effort in shutting out the noise and saying, 'It doesn't matter to me what people think'."
Evolution of Music
That developed confidence called for a different sonic direction â more organic and immediate than anything the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that was founded on the drums.
"Drums are such a nuanced thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she says.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the subject of our biography," jokes Alana. "I've said it, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Stories and Collective Laughter
The trio's candor inspired the album's promotional campaign, where the sisters shared some of their romantic misadventures.
Someone ended things with Este over a medical concern. Alana recalled a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.
"Experiencing these setbacks, you just feel like there's no light," says Alana. "Therefore to be able to laugh at those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's incredible."
A Secure Legacy
It's not difficult sense a shift in the band. These days, Haim are more assured of their position in the music world.
They're top-billed acts, with successful albums and an global audience.
Yet Haim will forever be their top focus.
"We have been making music since I was little," says Alana. "It's like nothing else that we were destined for. And I'm really thankful we've reached this point and we're still kicking."
